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REMIT is celebrating the launch of its Start Being A Girl campaign, which ties in with this year’s Women in Engineering Day on June 23.

The campaign is designed to encourage women to enter the automotive sector, where only 7.3 per cent is currently female.

At national training provider Remit Group, attracting females into the motor industry is a key target.

Business unit director Christine Peddie said: ‏’The name of the campaign is unusual, but to us it challenges something a lot of women will have experienced as children, at home and at work.

‘Too often people use the derogatory term ‘stop being a girl’ to highlight a weakness, or something someone is doing wrong. But we believe that has to change, so we’re asking young women to “Start Being A Girl”, changing perceptions and turning it into a positive.’

To start its campaign, Remit has spoken to some of its female apprentices about their experiences of working in the automotive sector, and training with Remit alongside a high percentage of male learners. ‏

Apprentice paint sprayer Jasmine Thirtle, 18, works for BCA in South Shields. She visits Remit’s state of the art Automotive Academy in Derby on block release to carry out her training.

Thirtle, pictured above, said: ‘I think females are too scared to get involved in the industry because they’re worried about what their friends or family might think.‏

‘Training with the lads is fine, because once we’re here it is just like we’re one of the lads really. I was scared walking in, because it’s a new place, but it’s just like anything else – once you get in there and get started and get to know people it’s great. I really enjoy it.‏

‏’I don’t really feel like there’s any difference between men and women in this industry, we’re either male or female and that’s it.’‏

‏Remit’s new automotive national training facility, based in Derby, boasts three dedicated workshops including body, paint, heavy vehicle and a light vehicle workshop kitted out with all of the latest technical equipment.‏